Well, since last week, Jesus has totally grown to adulthood. We find him here on the banks of the Jordan River with John the Baptizer, introduced, of course, by a quote from scripture. Already in John's fiery speech we have the comparison between the religious establishment (Pharisees and Sadducees)and the new Way of Jesus.
Q: What expectations do you have for the religious establishment? How do you respond when they disappoint you?
John proclaims not to be worthy to carry Jesus' sandals, yet Jesus comes to be baptized by John.
Q: Is there a difference in motivation or theology between what John, the people, and Jesus think about baptism? Do the details of Jesus' baptism change the way you think about your own baptism?
Jesus is immediately taken from the river to the wilderness (quite a contrast of images right there!) for the purpose, it seems, of being tempted by the devil.
Q: What or who is the devil? How does that work in your theological thinking?
Note: the devil uses Hebrew scripture to tempt Jesus! This is a good example of scripture being used against God's purposes rather than for them.
Jesus relocates his home base (again, according to scripture) and begins to preach John's sermon (3:2 + 4:17) of repentance. "Repent" means to return, to come back to the way of life God had established with these (Hebrew) people in the covenant with Israel. It isn't necessarily feeling sorry or bad about something, although having strayed away from the covenant is reason to feel sorry. Repent is an active verb; not just a feeling, but "change your ways!", turn and go this way, God's way, not that way.
Q: does the sermon "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near" sound different from Jesus' mouth than it did from John's?
Jesus chooses some disciples, not based so much on a job description he needed to fill, but he asked them to bring what they knew and what they had and go with him, using those gifts in some way they'd figure out later.
Q: (you know it's coming!) Has God surprised you by using a gift of yours in some way you never connected with faithfulness, spirituality, or religion?
In one sentence Jesus does more than we will accomplish in our lifetimes. Look at all the verbs in v. 23: went, teaching, proclaiming, curing. Look on a map and see the territory he's covering. Read the list (v. 24) of healings. This is easy to overlook, but the magnitude is impressive. No wonder he has such a following already.
You ask hard questions this week.
ReplyDeleteI like your point about the devil using Scripture against God's purposes.
I suppose 'Repent for the kingdom has come near' would sound different if we say Jesus brings the kingdom in his person in a way we have never seen before. The kingdom has come and now is.